Investing In The Bank Of You And Me with Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

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Our financial system is in disarray. In 2008 and 2009 banks and investment companies have collapsed faster than taxpayers can dish out money to prop them up. At the same time the United States economy is being depleted as rapidly as the rainforest, and our global credit is looking as dingy as our once pristine rivers. But Thomas Greco has a solution. With his fresh perspective on money, credit, and - well - civilization, he believes we can save our economy and our planet by reconstructing our financial system - and find ourselves happier and healthier in the bargain. By reclaiming control over our money and credit, so that neighbors rather than banks are at the center of our transactions, we can restore balance to every aspect of our lives. Mr. Greco tells us, "We're facing a mega-crisis that includes several things converging at the same time. We've got peak oil, we've got climate change, we've got resource depletion, we've got pollution. Our institutions are failing us - they fail to educate, they fail to provide health care adequately to everyone. And so we have to take a hard look at what we've been doing and look at new ways of doing things. We're about to embark on an existence that's quite different from the past, a new steady-state economy. I see it as a more peaceful, more pleasant life for everybody. Hopefully we'll see an end to war. We'll see an end to starvation. We'll see an end to deprivation of the essentials that we all need, and an opportunity to realize our full potential." (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Thomas Greco, Jr. is founder and director of the Community Information Resource Center, a nonprofit consulting organization and networking hub specializing in community currency and mutual credit design and implementation. He has written articles for Whole Earth Review, World Business Academy Perspectives, Earth Island Journal, Green Revolution, and others.

His books include:

• New Money for Healthy Communities (Thomas Greco 1994)
• The End of Money and the Future of Civilization (Chelsea Green 2009)

To learn more about the work of Thomas Greco go to ReinventingMoney.com and BeyondMoney.net.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• Why the global political money and banking regime is extremely dysfunctional
• How our monetary system contributes to the depletion of the earth's resources
• How community based initiatives are available to reclaim the "credit commons," empower people, and enhance the health of local communities
• Why local, grassroots currencies have failed-and how we can help them thrive
• How you can get credit without going to a bank